Dataset Information

What makes an effective Quality Improvement Manager? A qualitative study in the New Zealand Health System.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Quality improvement is an international priority, and health organisations invest heavily in this endeavour. Little, however, is known of the role and perspectives of Quality Improvement Managers who are responsible for quality improvement implementation. We explored the quality improvement managers' accounts of what competencies and qualities they require to achieve day-to-day and long-term quality improvement objectives.

Design

Qualitative exploratory design using an interpretivist approach with semi-structured interviews analysed thematically.

Setting and participants

Interviews were conducted with 56 quality improvement managers from 15 (out of 20) New Zealand District Health Boards. Participants were divided into two groups: traditional and clinical quality improvement managers. The former group consisted of those with formal quality improvement education-typically operations managers or process engineers. The latter group was represented by clinical staff-physicians and nurses-who received on-the-job training.

Results

Three themes were identified: quality improvement expertise, leadership competencies and interpersonal competencies. Effective quality improvement managers require quality improvement experience and expertise in healthcare environments. They require leadership competencies including sense-giving, taking a long-term view and systems thinking. They also require interpersonal competencies including approachability, trustworthiness and supportiveness. Traditional and clinical quality improvement managers attributed different value to these characteristics with traditional quality improvement managers emphasising leadership competencies and interpersonal skills more than clinical quality improvement managers.

Conclusions

We differentiate between traditional and clinical quality improvement managers, and suggest how both groups can be better prepared to be effective in their roles. Both groups require a comprehensive socialisation and training process designed to meet specific learning needs.

SUBMITTER: Akmal A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8751312 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

What makes an effective Quality Improvement Manager? A qualitative study in the New Zealand Health System.

Akmal Adeel A Podgorodnichenko Nataliya N Stokes Tim T Foote Jeff J Greatbanks Richard R Gauld Robin R

BMC health services research 20220110 1

<h4>Purpose</h4>Quality improvement is an international priority, and health organisations invest heavily in this endeavour. Little, however, is known of the role and perspectives of Quality Improvement Managers who are responsible for quality improvement implementation. We explored the quality improvement managers' accounts of what competencies and qualities they require to achieve day-to-day and long-term quality improvement objectives.<h4>Design</h4>Qualitative exploratory design using an int ...[more]

PMID: 35012524

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Dataset Information

What makes an effective Quality Improvement Manager? A qualitative study in the New Zealand Health System.

Purpose

Design

Setting and participants

Results

Conclusions

Publications

What makes an effective Quality Improvement Manager? A qualitative study in the New Zealand Health System.

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